Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 94, 23 April 1894 — Tweedlee Tweedledum. [ARTICLE]
Tweedlee Tweedledum.
Oh! what a ditTerence iu the moruing! TVe conidu't suppress that exclamatiou, when we read the appropriation bill prepared by Damon —Smith «fc Go., and at the same time remembered tbe atti- , tude of W. 0. Smith in the largest legislature, and 'of the press of Mr. Damon. We shall go into ; tbe detaiU of the approprtatiou at ; some fnture date. aod eonhne ourselTes today to ask Mr. W. 0. Smilh, if would expiaiu. if not to ua. to tho poiie»
! conncittee at leaat ho» it is tbat • sich an otter change has eome < ■ over bis dreams. and maJe hia: tike sach & very differeLi new o: the poliee dcpartmer.t, when ii wis headeu by Tweedledee Brown . and not by rweetiled:m Smitb. * In spite of his cry for retrecchment tbe learned attornev general considers. it necessary to ask . for 8100,000 for ‘"pay of poliee Oahn. When the now learned attorney general sat in the Legislature in 1892. as an orvlinary i memher for Koloa and Lihne, be favored to pass the item providing for pay of poliee Oihu at $05.230. Minister of hnanee P C. Jones in figuring np the back pay dnethe departmentmovedthatthe item pass at $85, 16Ō.C2. Attor- ' ney general Bro» n said that he ! had made all the possible redactions that Le conscientionsly could and he hoped the department woold be able to get a!ong with the comparatively small appropriation. Mr. C. W. Asbfonl who probably knows more about tbe Poliee departraent than anybody else said that he fearedthat the department wonhl 5nd itself very severely handicapped and he therefore moved that the approj.riation Le passed at $90,000. Tbe learned W. O. Sraith was wil!iug enough to sce a bigger appropriation if only the country eonkl aff'ord it but he couldn t see his way to vote for the larger amount. He thonght “that tlie country should be congratulated on Laving an houest administrai tion. Tne amonni asked for bv the Attorney-geaeral \vas small iin coruparison \vith \vhat had ■ beeu spent. This opportonity should not be allowed to pass without expressing one’s senso of; the outrugeous manner iu whieh i puhlie money had beeu wasted ;in ihe Poliee department. Snch ; waste, such extravagance should i bo condemned. He \vould i i rather seo the Poliee doparttnent j i crippled than go on as it had. There had beei no excuse for such miscondnct” So spako Mr. W. O. Sraith in 1892, | on the floor of the Legislative I h.ill while a Rcform Cabinet was at tbo bead of tlie administration. ■ That cabiuet \vent out iu due j tirae, and Mr. Siuilh \veut in as Atttorney-General, and Iiow does IUe now ? "Fay of poliee, ,() »Uu, 3100,000.” The AttorneyGeneral explaiued tlie dotails (uot published). His Excellency further on increased the pay of the Slieriff’of Kanai—presnmablv on account of the Kalalau affair — from $3,600 to $4 000. Ho al\vays d.J have a soft lieart for Kauai. He increased the salary of the Depnty Marsbal frora $4,000 to $4,200 and he ati tempted to pass the pay for tbe jailorof Oahu prison at $3,600. ! But iu 1892 the nstute member i from Lihue said in regard to this Iast itera “that he wonUl | rather be a jailor at $18,00 per . : annum than chief clerks of anv bureau at $1,300. The jai!or is enjoying freo board and Iodgiug.” Why hasMr. Smith uo.v suddenlv roalized that the jailor is worth polkieal friend of the “houest” Attorney-General, or is monev more plantiful todiy thau it \vas in 1892 ? We eonUl contiaae (and shall in coming issnes) exaraples of Mr. Smith’s iu consistency anl the veiydiffarentaspect of theposition $3,600? Is it bacause the j »ilor is 1 it of au attorney general—or uuv other object— wheu lookeil at from below or from above—bv I an “iu” or bv an “out.” *